Vermont Police Recognizes Mistakes in Dog Shooting

Wednesday May 2, 2012

BRATTLEBORO -- The Brattleboro Police Department is acknowledging it made mistakes when a dog was shot on a playground near the Green Street School on March 21.

BPD Chief Gene Wrinn, in a report to the Selectboard, said "More thought and effort should have been placed into dealing with the aftereffects and making immediate contact with citizens in the area."

According to Wrinn's report, two Brattleboro Police officers responded to the area of High Street and the Crowell Lot on March 21, after receiving a report of a stray dog in the area. The officers found the dog in the Crowell Lot, and after securing the area, Wrinn's report reads, one of the officers shot two bullets from a shotgun to kill the animal.

"The officer made a decision using his years of training and experience that it was not safe to allow the dog to remain unsecured," Wrinn wrote.

Wrinn said the department did its own internal investigation, and he said the officer used his best judgment when he decided to shoot the dog that day on the playground.

But while the department and the Selectboard are trying to put the incident behind them, some citizens are still looking for answers about what happened that day.

Windham Humane Society Executive Director Anne Guion told the Selectboard members, at their meeting Tuesday, that she has been asking the police department for reports which she says the department has failed to produce.

Guion said she wants an impartial, independent investigation done because she said too many of the statements in Wrinn's report conflict with eyewitness accounts.

Guion said that while Wrinn has reported that the town's animal control officer was contacted about the same animal in the days leading up to the event, she has heard that the animal control officer was never brought into the conversation.

If the officer was called that day, Guion said, the dog would most likely still be alive.

Windham County Humane Society Board President Brad Hamilton said the board supported Guion's request for an independent investigation.

In Wrinn's letter to the board, the chief also said the officers that day should have done a better job assisting citizens out of the playground, and the department should have followed up with the Green Street School staff.

Selectboard Chairman Dick DeGray said the department had done a good job in responding to the complaints following the shooting.

He said Wrinn had acknowledged that the situation could have been handled better and DeGray said he was certain the department would discuss the incident and work to improve its protocol for future events.

There was no indication Tuesday that the Selectboard would support, or ask for, an independent investigation.

At the meeting, Brattleboro resident Anne Wright said that while the incident with the dog at the Crowell Lot raised a number of issues for her concerning protocol and communication, the shooting, she said, gave her less confidence in the Brattleboro Police Department's ability to control crime.

Wright said that while she has watched the living standards in downtown Brattleboro deteriorate over the past years, the police presence has not increased.

Wright walks to and from work on Main Street, she said. After witnessing discussions about fighting and drug use downtown, she said she was concerned about a police department that would bring a shotgun to a playground to kill a dog, while failing to protect the citizens.

Wright also called for an independent investigation so the citizens could have faith in the police department.

DeGray said the Brattleboro Police Department has had its share of image problems over the years. However, he said he has faith in Wrinn, and said the department has come a long way to be more responsive to the public.

"I wish we could get it right every time, but it doesn't work that way," DeGray said. "One day you're the hero and the next day you're thrown under the bus. It's a difficult job. This should be a learning experience for the department."

He said the Brattleboro Citizens Police Communication Committee will be discussing the incident at its meeting on May 15, and he said the Selectboard will be receiving a report from that meeting.

Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached [email protected] , or 802-254-2311, ext. 279.